The 37th Annual Anchorage Folk Festival
January 22 to February 1, 2026
2026 festival Guest Artist
The Faux Paws!
Chris Miller • Andrew VanNorstrand • Noah VanNorstrand
These guys have had returning to Alaska on their wish list for a long time. We are so glad to bring them back to their Alaska friends and fans, and to introduce them to soon-to-be new fans, in their wild genre-busting iteration, the Faux Paws! Musically impossible to describe, they don’t even fit into today’s often hyphenated music scene. No fan, industry expert, nor member of the band can seem to sum up their sound in any kind of marketable way. They are a singularly unique outfit in the acoustic music community, always on the fringes, always memorable, and with an increasing number of die-hard fans who feel like they’ve uncovered a secret.
Is it bluegrass? Not usually. Old-time? Occasionally. Is it Celtic? Can’t quite say that. Is it Folk? Americana? Jazz? Singer-songwriter? None of the above, but members of the Paws have deep ties to all of these traditions and blend their elements effortlessly to serve whatever musical idea is being presented.
This band takes risks. They’re dynamic, exciting, sincere, irreverent, infectious, and surprising. They move deftly between moods, influences and instruments but always maintaining a “groove” that pulses through the music like a heartbeat—virtuosity on the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and saxophone, sure, but also vulnerability, personal lyrics, tight three-part brother harmonies, playful interplay, intricately arranged details, and soaring improvisations. According to FolkAlley.com, their self-titled 2021 release was named one of the 10 Best Trad albums of the year from around the world.
But spending too many words talking about this stuff detracts from the fact that it’s the original songs—and heart—that keep folks coming back for more. In the band’s 12th year they returned to the studio and emerged with an EP showcasing a huge amount of music in a five-track sampler. The live energy is on full display, with very little added. The Backburner EP was released in April 2023 and reached Billboard’s Top 10 Bluegrass Albums Chart.
Without stopping to catch their breath, the band returned to the studio in 2024, and their second full-length record, No Bad Ideas, was released in May 2025. It is described by Roots Music Underground in their review as “a conversation on musical chemistry, brotherly telepathy, and the freedom of playing without a label” and in many reviews as “their best album yet!”
The Faux Paws will be playing Friday and Sunday evening concert sets on the second weekend, judging the Banjo Contest, and teaching workshops, but in addition they are making a special exception for us and will be playing our Thursday Barn Dance during Folk Week. It will be a night with something for everyone, called dances and partner dances, and opportunities to just listen if you wish. You won’t want to miss any of the Faux Paws’ performances in Anchorage!
Thursday, January 29Barn Dance Spenard Community Recreation Center
BUY TICKETS 
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Friday, January 30Main Stage Performance Local artist acts at 7 pm followed by The Faux Paws at 9 pm |
Sunday, February 1 |
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Workshops Bass is the Place: Theory and Technique to Improve Your Groove and Deepen Your Pocket with guest artist Chris Sartori | Professional Studies Building Room 109, 1:00–2:15 pm Twin Fiddling (All Lead Instruments Welcome!) with guest artist Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand | Professional Studies Building Room 110, 1:00–2:15 pm Arranging a Tune—the Ins and Outs with guest artists The Faux Paws | Professional Studies Building Room 110, 2:30–3:45 pm |
Main Stage Performance Local artist acts at 7 pm followed by The Faux Paws at 8:45 pm |
A native of Concord, Massachusetts, Chris Sartori is a bassist, percussionist, and multi-instrumentalist currently based out of Boston. Throughout 10+ years touring nationally with Americana genre-defiers Twisted Pine, Chris has studiously carved out a niche as the funkiest bassist in bluegrass. A graduate of the Jazz program at Umass Amherst, Chris is a lifelong student of music, dedicated to groove, improvisation, and bringing the music to life each night. Chris has had the privilege of traveling around the world exploring and innovating with fellow Americana/bluegrass pioneers such as Peter Rowan, Danny Barnes, Tray Wellington, the Faux Paws, and Twisted Pine, playing notable venues and music festivals from Anchorage, Alaska to Accra, Ghana. |
Andrew VanNorstrand is a musician, singer and songwriter based in Springfield, Vermont. He has performed on festival stages, concert halls, dance floors, and living rooms all over North America and beyond. As a teenager, Andrew and his brother Noah helped define a new generation of contra dance music with their family band the Great Bear Trio. Since then they’ve established themselves as virtuosic multi-instrumentalists and are often on the road together with progressive folk roots quartet the Faux Paws. His 2019 solo album That We Could Find a Way to Be focuses on the complicated intersections of love, faith, loss and uncertainty, queerness, and the search and struggle for understanding From the rust belt to the Blue Ridge, cold spring in New England to a summer’s night in Charlottesville, Andrew blends traditional folk, old-time, and country music with indie-roots-Americana and a passion for shared connection and a song well sung. |
Noah VanNorstrand’s driving fiddle, feet, and mandolin have been a rhythmic powerhouse behind some of the most popular dance bands of the last decade, including Great Bear, Buddy System, Wake Up Robin, and The Faux Paws. He has performed all over North America at nearly two hundred different dance weekends, folk festivals and music camps. His musicianship is deeply compelling and virtuosic but difficult to define, freely blending traditional folk genres such as Celtic and Old-time Applachian fiddling with elements of rock, newgrass, and pure unfiltered improvisation. His unique approach to foot percussion and innate understanding of dynamics and groove have made him a defining figure of modern contra dance music. |
Grammy-nominated saxophonist Chris Miller likes ending up in musically unexpected places. Growing up in Florida he attended public schools and studied jazz, eventually earning a Bachelors from University of North Florida and going on to a Masters from SUNY Purchase. At the same time his wide-ranging taste brought him to bluegrass festivals and playing in everything from jam bands to classical orchestras to accompanying pop and R&B singers. Chris eventually joining up with Cajun/zydeco supergroup the Revelers (Louisiana) and picked up a Grammy nomination for their 2015 album Get Ready. Now a multi-instrumentalist playing woodwinds and banjo, it’s still his deeply evocative saxophone playing that he’s most known for, from soaring improvisations to mind-bending Celtic fiddle tunes and seemingly everything in between. He splits his time between playing with a wide range of musicians around his home in Port Townsend, Washington, touring with the Revelers and his own folk outfit the Faux Paws. Aside from performing, Chris loves teaching music and building community through music, food, and dance and is the assistant program manager to the Festival of American Fiddletunes and the Operations director of Blackpot Camp in Louisiana. |